Surface treating apparatus for poles



c. B. STAIR 7 2,357,144

' SURFACE TREATING APPARATUS FOR POLES I Filed March 16, 1942 BY: rgze 225m Patented Aug. 29, 1944 UNITED STATE SURFACE TREATING APPARATUS FOR POLES Carlyle B. Stair, Downers Grove, Ill. 7 Application March 16, 1942, Serial No'. 434,844

2 Claims.

This invention relates generally to apparatus for treating the exterior surfaces of vertical flagpoles and thelike, and more particularly to surface treating apparatus which may be vertically shifted as an incident to movement manually imparted to a flexible lifting element such as a conventional flagpole halyard.

Treating the surface of a flagpole, such, for example, as by painting, has heretofore been carried out with considerable expense and hazard. The common practice has been to employ the services of a steeple jack to manually apply the surface treatment to the flagpole. It is an important object of the present invention to materially decrease the expense and to avoid the hazards heretofore involved in the surface treatment and painting of flagpoles, and to this end I propose to employv efficiently operable and economically constructed surface treating mechanism which may be manually shifted upon a vertically disposed flagpole by simply manipulating the conventional flagpole halyard.

More specifically, the invention contemplates the use of surface treating mechanisms, such as a sprayer device which may be vertically the limits of the effectiveness of the spray dilimited to any particular type or design of surshifted along the surface of the flagpole while a spray is being directed thereagainst.

4 Still more specifically, the invention contemplates a device of the type referred to above wherein guide means is provided for engagement with and movement longitudinally of the external surface of a vertically disposed flagpole in association with mechanism such as a sprayer device which may be substantially self-contained as a unit and shiftable as an incident to the movement of the flagpole halyard.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein;

Fig. l is a side elevational view of mechanism embodying the present invention shown in operative association with a conventional vertically disposed flagpole;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the surface treating mechanism, said view being taken substantially along the line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the surface treating mechanism taken substantially along the line 3-3 of Fig.2; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary disclosure of the flagpole in horizontal section and the associated sprayer nozzles, dot and dash lines indicating facetreating mechanism for flagpoles and the like, the unit or mechanism 10 will serve to illustrate one practical application. This unit includes an outer shell or casing l2 designed to encircle the exterior surface of a flagpole I4. Mounted within the housing l2 and movable as a unit therewith is a plurality of radially; disposed and horizontally shiftable guide pins 16 disposed at one level and a plurality of similar guide pins [8 disposed at an upper level. The inner extremities of the pin l6 carry rollers Ilia and the inner extremities of the pins l8 support guide rollers l8a. The pins lS--I8 are secured in any suitable manner against rotation within their respective housings 2ll22 and are constantly urged inwardly by coil springs 24. In this manner the-guide rollers lBa-lBaresiliently bear against the external surface of the flagpole [4 so as to maintain the unit H1 in proper operating position with respect to the flagpole. Also because of the radially shiftable arrangement of the pins [6-18, the unit H] is automatically adjustable for flagpoles of varying diameters.

Secured within and movable as a unit with the housing I2 are paint reservoirs 26. Extending upwardlyfrom the reservoirs 26 are pipes 28, the upper extremities of which terminate in inwardly directed spray nozzles 30. These spray nozzles may be of any conventional design and hence a detailed disclosure of their structure is not essential to a clear understanding of the invention. Other conduits or piping 32 are employed for directing air to the spray nozzles 30. Air may be supplied through a flexible conduit 34 which is connected at its lower extremity to a conventional air compressor 36, preferably of the electrically driven type, Fig. 1. Inasmuch as the invention does not incorporate any specific structural features of the air compressor, no detailed description thereof is essential. It will suflice to say that the air compressor 36 serves to introduce the air stream necessary to force spraying material such as paint from the reservoirs 26 through the spray nozzles 30. In instances where it is desired, the compressor may be associated directly with the unit III, as indicated by the dot and dash lines, Fig. 1, thereby avoiding the necessity of employing the flexible air conduit 34. However, under such circumstances it would be essential to employ the necessary conventional electrical connections or cable 34a for delivering electric power to the motor of the compressor 36. In either instance, a source of power supply, air power in one instance, and electric power in the other, is connected with the surface treating mechanism by flexible conducting means.

To facilitate association of the unit just de-' scribed with the flagpole I4, I propose to have the unit It! made in two sections which are secured together at one side by a suitable hinge 38. By loosening a wing nut 40 positioned diametrically opposite the hinge 38, Fig. 3, the entire unit may be opened sufiiciently to permit association with or disassociation from the flagpole.

Attention is directed to a coupling device or clamp 42, ,Fig. 2, which serves to couple the unit I with the flexible lifting element or halyard 44 of the flagpole. This halyard is supported at the upper extremity of the pole by a conventional pulley 46 and may be manually manipulated to shift the unit Ill during the functioning of the sprayer nozzles 30. It will be noted that the sprayer nozzles extend a sufficient distance above the reservoirs 26 to enable the spraying of the ornamental structure 48 extending from the top of the flagpole proper,

In using the mechanism just described, it is first positioned in encircling relation with respect to the flagpole and the coupling member 42 is clamped upon the halyard 44. The entire structure is then elevated to the position shown in Fig. 1 and the compressor 36 is actuated. As the external surface of the flagpole structure is sprayed, the unit I0 is lowered slowly. In this manner the surface of the pole structure is treated with the utmost of economy and without any danger of personal injury. A uniform coat of paint of proper constituency is assured at minimum cost. This makes it possible to effect the surface treatment of the flagpole at frequent intervals at a cost which is far below the cost involved in practicing the conventional methods of flagpole treatment referred to above,

The invention contemplates surface treating mechanism differing from the specific structure disclosed herein, and it is to be understood that the invention should only be limited by the scope of the claims appended hereto.. 7

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. A device for treating the external surface of a flagpole including guide means adapted for engagement with and movement longitudinally of the external surface of a vertically disposed flagpole, spraying mechanism associated with said guide means and. operable during the vertical movement thereof for contemporaneously spraying a continuous circumferential area of said exterior surface of the flagpole, and halyard coupling means movable as a unit with said guide means and said surface spraying mechanism whereby vertical movement may be imparted to said surface spraying mechanism as an incident to the shifting of the halyard of an associated flagpole.

2. A device for treating the external surface of a flagpole as set forth in claim 1 wherein the spraying mechanism constitutes a plurality of sprayer nozzles directed toward and disposed about a vertical axis.

CARLYLE B. STAIR. 

